Inasmuch kicks off at Beale

Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at 4:22 pm

Members of Beale Memorial Baptist Church meet for the Inasmuch Kick-off Dinner.

2013 Inasmuch Kick-Off Training Dinner was held Monday, Jan. 14 at Beale Memorial Baptist Church. Soups, sandwiches, song, and serious note-taking were the order of the evening as Team Leaders, Church Contacts, and Pastors broke into small groups to learn their roles. Stanley Clarke was master of ceremonies and kept things moving with his anecdotes, jokes, and instructions. Rev. David Donahue, pastor of Beale Memorial Baptist Church, gave a homily about this project being one accomplished not by volunteers but by servants of Christ. Rev. Russell Smith and Rev. Janie Mitchell along with her daughter Chantal Mitchell, with daughter Latisha Mitchell on the piano, provided music which the group responded to enthusiastically, joining right along in song and prayer.

Sandy Baytops, Coordinator of Services and Gifts for the 4th year, explained the responsibilities of leaders of these projects. She reminded her team of team leaders of the mission of the day, having the servant’s heart, and including the whole church family in the event in some way. Some new projects will replace some of those done in previous years.

Margie Grey and Lucy Baker talked to the Church Contacts about their responsibility for keeping the congregation informed of special due dates and seeing that the registration process, necessary for participation, is done completely and correctly.

Gary Bickford and Eddie Hammond explained the different process for repair jobs this year. Three homes have been selected to do major repairs so they may be lived in safely. Many teams will work on each house during the one-day project and this requires careful coordination and guidance from the leadership. Participants must register to be on the these projects through their local church, for both insurance and communication purposes.

The Core Planning Team, led by Kathleen Hughes, consists of Stanley Clarke, Lucy Baker, Margie Grey, Sandy Baytops, Bishop Daryll Williams, Eddie Hammond, Gary Bickford, Dawn Douglas, and Janet Jeter. They have been meeting since fall of 2012 putting together this Mission Day for Essex County.

This year there may be as many as 37 churches of different denominations participating. If a church is interested in participating in the April 20 Mission Day a representative must come to the Essex Churches Together meeting on Tuesday, Janaury 22 at 7:30 PM at Beale Courthouse in order to be registered for the event and get the necessary training packets. The count down has begun!